Modular Model Railroads

This month’s feature is the Spokane International Railway (SIRy) submitted by Mike Pagano, the layout’s builder and a contributing author to N Scale Railroading magazine. The SIRy is an N-scale, lightweight, portable layout consisting of 4 sections with two separate track loops depicting the SIRy near Sandpoint in the Idaho panhandle. The portable layout is available for exhibitions and is headquartered out of Bellingham, Washington.  Photos and some text by Mike Pagano.

Layout Name: Spokane International Railway 

Famous for: Mike’s prototype signature scene on the SIRy is the Sand Creek Trestle, which was pictured on the cover of the July/Aug 2007 issue of N Scale Railroading. The Jan/Feb 2008 issue of N Scale Railroading describes how the project was conceived, including fitting the 650 foot scale trestle onto a portable layout. On the SIRy website, you can compare Mike’s efforts, as featured on the front cover of N Scale Railroading, with the prototype photo by Laurence Shawver in the 1950’s. It was important to Mike to have a historical railroad background for his project railroad and to also have a signature scene that would give the layout an identity. Read the rest of this entry »

Virtual roading is very similar to train simulators, but can be pursued instead of railfanning and/or model railroading. 

Riverside TimeSaver – operate a TimeSaver switching puzzle online.

Virtual Railroader – “Home of train/railroad simulators, virtual railroading and V-scale modeling”

The following are shelves for holding model trains for display.  These are handy if you have a large collection of trains and no place to display them.

Glenn Snyder Display Systems – http://www.gsds.com/

• HO/S Gauge $12 per 6 ft section
• O Gauge $15 per 6 ft section – I purchased and can recommend these.
• O/STD/LGB Gauge $25 per 6 ft section
• Aluminum extrusion
• UPS shipping additional

RailRax – http://www.railrax.net/

• HO/S gauge – $15.00 per 6 ft. section
• O gauge – $19.50 per 6 ft. section
• #1/ G/ Standard/O – $28.00 per 6 ft. section
• Aluminum Extrusion
• UPS/FedEx shipping additional

Dechants Model Railroad Display Shelves – http://www.mrtrain.com/products.asp?cat=10

• HO/O Gauge $15.75 per 4 ft section
• Reversible for HO or O Gauge
• Aluminum extrusion
• UPS shipping additional

ShelfTrax – http://www.shelftrax.com/woodenmodelrailroadshelfpage.html

• O, S, or On30 Gauge $35 per 6 ft section
• HO or N Gauge $24 per 6 ft section
• Wood moulding
• UPS shipping additional

Your local hobby shop is your best source of supply.  Returns are easy, advice is available and your local hobby shop can get anything you can find on the internet.  For those of us without a local hobby shop nearby, the following is an alphabetical list from various threads at the Model Railroader forums: Read the rest of this entry »